Bukit Kutu – First Hike
I have always wondered what Bukit Kutu was like after having read that it was an abandoned British hill station. Some call it Gunung Kutu which is disputed whether it is really a ‘gunung’ or mountain especially when Pine Tree Hill at the neighbouring Fraser’s Hill stands at 4,777 feet while Bukit Kutu was reported to be about 3,500 feet. As I read more, I found that it was formerly called Gunung Sekutu by the indigenous people, the Temuan who lived in the area. When the British took over, it was renamed Treacher’s Hill and a sanatorium was built there. Fraser’s Hill continued to thrive but somehow Treacher’s Hill faded into oblivion. This hill station was abandoned, the bungalows went into disrepair and finally the roads were overtaken by the jungle. Treacher’s Hill disappeared from the maps and was renamed Bukit Kutu.
Personal accounts from trekkers had given it a bad reputation for leeches and it was notorious as a trek where one would easily get lost. Trekking time was reported to be between three to four hours while the trek was supposed to be eight km long. I was intrigued with Bukit Kutu and jumped at the opportunity to climb Bukit Kutu when Liau invited us to join him for a trek there. Mei was very reluctant because of the notoriety of the leeches but somehow I managed to strong arm her to go.
June 6 – We woke up at 5.55 am for a 6.30 am rendezvous with Gary before proceeding to the group meeting point in Melawati at 7.00 am. Received a text message from Elise that she needed a lift. That’s blew my timing apart. Gary was early, so we picked him up at 6.25 am and proceeded to Elise’s place. We picked her up at 6.40 am and reckoned that 20 minutes was not enough to reach Melawati from Old Klang Road. Called Liau to inform him that we will proceed straight to Kuala Kubu Baru.
The drive to KKB was beautiful and the sunrise which we witness along the way was truly magnificent. We arrived in KKB at 7.45 am and had a quick breakfast when we were surpised by Diane. She was on her way to a white water rafting trip when she saw us and stopped her car just to say hello. We joined Mr. Liau’ group at 8.05 am in a mamak shop where they were having their breakfast.
At 8.30 am, we proceeded towards Fraser’s Hill from KKB. Shortly after passing the water dam, about 7.7 km from KKB town, we took a right turn into Kg Pertak. A quaint little village with lovely single storey detached houses, Kg Pertak is a relocation site for the Temuan community. From Kg Pertak, we ventured straight into a dirt road and continued for about 1 km before the road proved to be inaccessible by normal vehicles.
We had to park our cars at the side of road. From where we parked, we could hear the sound of rushing river waters and this is the start of the Kutu trail (Elevation 827 feet / Coordinates N 03˚34.487’ E 101˚44.201).
It was time to warm up. Lum start with his pumping exercises, Commedian did his kung fu kicks while Joey did her extreme yoga stretches. I was going to conserve my energy for the trek. After 10 minutes or so, we headed out for the Kutu Summit at around 9.00 am.
There were 13 of us. Only 4 of us have reached the summit of Bukit Kutu previously while the rest of us were all first timers to the hill.
The first part of the trek was easy with two metals bridges to cross. The second bridge had partially collapsed and we had to balance on the edge of the bridge.
About 1.5 km from the starting point, we came across our first river crossing. The water is about 2 feet deep. This river crossing could be a hazard on the return trip if it rains as the water level would definitely have gone up.
We did not let up. We continue trekking and encountered another 2 river crossings. These were minor streams and could easily be crossed without getting our feet wet. After crossing the 3rd river, we were in the thick of pacat (leech) country. The treks were a bit muddy but were very manageable given that we have been having dry spells during the past two months. We quickly passed the pacat gauntlet without suffering any leech assaults except for one or two minor bites.
We then started climbing. It was up hill all the way. After more than 30 minutes of continuous up hill, I swore it was like Nuang. When the going seemed to be endless, we reached the Giant Boulder area. It was such a relief. We covered only another 3 km from the 1st river crossing but it felt endless.
We rested a good 20 minutes here at the Giant Boulder. We passed time by taking lots of pictures.
Finally, we were ready for the final assault. It is only less than 2 km more to the summit from the Giant Boulder. Knowing that we have covered more than half of the distance helped us pyschologically in our final push. It was a steady hike upwards towards our goal.
The first to reach the summit clocked at about 11.45 am or a total of 2 hours 45 minutes. I only managed to reach at 12.15 pm clocking in at 3 hours 15 minutes. It was great feeling knowing that I managed to climb Buku Kutu on my first attempt where others have failed. The good weather and excellent ground conditions were instrumental in our above average times. Heard that the record for summitting Bukit Kutu was one hour forty minutes.
According to my GPS the summit of Bukit Kutu stands at 3,576 feet (Coordinates N 03˚34.487’ E 101˚44.201).
Not bad for a day’s work. Trekking up 6.3 km with a total elevation of 2,749 feet in 3 hours 15 minutes. I stand at the summit pretty pleased with the trek.
The going down was relatively swift. We started at 1.40 pm and we reached the river by 3.30 pm in under 2 hours.
It was time for a splash to cool down. The waters felt heavenly.
We left the river at 4.30 pm for a great dinner at Ulu Yam Lama with great memories.
American Idol Best Season Ever
American Idol Season 8 proved to be the best season ever, as all of the final 10 contestants were good enough to be the winners. Competition was stiff. Pure quality soared through the roof into the skies. It was the best quality American Idol of all seasons. Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey would have won if they had competed in any other seasons but Kris Allen managed to upstaged both of them at the final stretch.
Kris Allen excelled when it counted most, in the final show. The only difference in the final, was that he sanged the final song a touch better than Adam. In all honesty, the song just did not suit Adam’s singing style.
While Kris walked away with the grand prize, Adam was truly the real star of Season 8. He has the most powerful voice which he managed to perfection with his voice control. His flamboyance overflow night after night, so much that you can’t get enough of him.
For me, the highlight of the whole season was during the results night where Adam performed with KISS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfq6ZtBjwA
It was an American Idol season which is unlikely to be surpassed in seasons to come.
Ryans Giggs ~ A True Football Legend
29 April 2009 – It is only befitting that Ryan Giggs received the PFA Player of the Year for 2009, after a glorious career stretching 19 years where he is the only player to have scored in every season of the English Premier League since it was introduced in 1992. Giggs was also the only player to have scored in 11 consecutive Champions League seasons. A true and rare professional who preferred to let his footballing skills on the field do the talking. Undoubtedly, there are many equally talented players but none could Giggs in his commitment. How often can we find a player who played at the highest level serving one single club for two decades.
Ryans Giggs ~ truly a Football Legend!
My Take on Spice of India
March 5 – Picked up Gopal from his hotel and was cracking my head where to have lunch. Gopal, my friend from Chennai like most Indians are not too adventurous with their choice of food. The last time we had a meal was at the Bombay Palace which was a truly gourmet dream. It would be tough to top that and I decided to check out The Spice of India at the Pavilion.
The restaurant has lasted since the opening of Pavilion so I thought that it must be good. Secondly with the extremely high rentals at the Pavilion, I reasoned that they wouldn’t have lasted if they were bad.
We were promptly seated when we entered Spice of India and were given the menus. It was another 10 minutes before we could catch someone’s attention that we were ready to order. It wasn’t exactly filled. There were only four occupied tables and there were three waiters in all.
Our orders were Tomato Shorba, Butter Naan, Tandoori Roti, Garlic Naan, Dhal Palak, Murgh Tikka Masala, Mango Lassi and mineral water.
Two bottles of mineral water was delivered with one glass. I had to ask for the second glass.
The mango lassi tasted like sour mango juice with a small part of milk. I was used to rich sweet creamy mango taste and not a sour mango.
Then came our Tomato Shorba. My verdict would be that it is Campbell Tomato Soup mixed with some spices.
Fortunately, the roti, naan, the Murgh Tikka Masala and the Dhal Palak were credible. Not exactly the best but passable.
Service was very bad. The waiters were not attentive and did not look out for the customers. Instead, the customers had to call them time and again.
Finally, when Gopal asked for finger bowls, he was politely told that there were wash basins located at the end of the restaurant. Some may think this is more hygienic than guests dipping and washing their fingers on the table in tiny lemon water bowls but this is an Indian restaurant and not having finger bowls is akin to not serving papadams.
Lastly, the bill came to RM 140 for two. Not cheap! Not expensive for an establishment on the upper floor of Pavilion but for the poor service and for the not so fantastic food, I rather pay more elsewhere.
My Take - Will never go to Spice of India again.
My Take on Radius International Hotel’s Coffee House
March 5 – Met up with an old friend and had breakfast at the coffeehouse ( called Kopitiam but nothing resembling one) in Radius International Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
The first impression was that the place looked pretty cramped up and the breakfast buffet spread looked pretty bad. The Teo Chew porridge did not have enough condiments. The fried keow teow looked underfried.
I settled for the local favourite which is the nasi lemak. On appearance, it looked okay. They had freshly cut cucumbers and half boiled eggs to accompany the rice. The sambal looked a bit watery.
Overall, it looked much better than the taste. The nasi tasted like normal boiled rice. The sambal which makes or break the dish was absolutely horrendous. It was such a put off that I felt like nauseated after the tiny portion which I took.
My Take - Absolutely bad. Forget about having breakfast at the Radius International Hotel.
Super Ben
March 1, 2009 – It was the battle for the Carling Cup. Sir Alex fielded four youngsters, Ben Foster, Jonathan Evans, Darron Gibson and Danny Walbeck while leaving Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick and Edwin van der Sar in the stands.
As it turned out, Tottenham Hotspurs, the defending champions proved to be worthy adversary and Manchester United just couldn’t score despite 23 shots and possessing 53% of the ball. Tottenham Hotspurs had their run which was spearheaded by Roman Pavlyuchenko, Aaron Lennon and Darren Bent keeping the Red Devils’ defense busy. Goalkeeper Ben Foster was forced to make several saves while Sir Alex had to send in reinforcement in the form of Nemanja Vidic.
At the end of 90 minutes, there was still no score. Another 30 minutes, the teams were still tied.
It was then down to the lottery of penalties. Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tervez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Anderson all converted their penalties perfectly. The hero of the day was Ben Foster, 25 years old, third choice at Old Trafford rose to the occasion and stopped Jamie O’Hara’s first spot kick. The save obviously pounded pressure on Tottenham Hotspurs and David Bentley succumbed to the pressure when he kicked his penalty wide.
Manchester United – 2009 Carling Cup Champions
Manchester United Rejoices
Jan 11 – Could proved to be the turning point for the English Premier League for the 2008/2009 season. First Liverpool shot blanks at Stoke City and were held to a goalless draw after manager Rafael Benitez made some uncalled personal attacks on Sir Alex Ferguson only three days earlier in a lame attempt to rattle the Manchester United squad before the big day clash with Chelsea. Clearly from the outburst from Benitez showed that Liverpool feared Manchester United most amongst the top three rivals.
Then Chelsea’s manager Luis Felipe Scolari then announced that Chelsea knows how to neutralise Cristiano Ronaldo as they have three defenders one on midfielder who play along side Ronaldo in the Portuguese national team and they know how to take him out of the game. Deco, Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho and Paula Ferreira are all set and ready to take on Cristiano Ronaldo. Coming to Old Trafford with their unbeaten away record and a wisp of arrogance, Chelsea thought that they will end the Red Devils’ title ambitions right in front of their own crowd.
Cristiano Ronaldo played and did his artistic runs up and down the flanks. Chelsea players were throwing themselves at him. Stop Ronaldo, Stop Ronaldo was Chelsea’s main objective. Ronaldo played to their tune. Come and get me, come and get me! Ronaldo taunted.
Chelsea thought they were doing right for they kept Ronaldo at bay for 45 minutes. It was stoppage time. Ryan Giggs took the corner. Where is Ronaldo? Giggs wasn’t passing to Ronaldo. He crossed to Berbatov. Berbatov flicked it toward Vidic who headed home past a helpless Petr Cech. Goal No 1.
After the break, Chelsea tried to go for broke by bring in Nicholas Anelka for Deco. While Nicholas Anelka provided more firepower upfront, Gary Neville, Jonathan Evans, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Erva managed to contain the Chelsea strikers, limitting them to only desperate long distance shots.
While all attention was on Ronaldo, Patrice Evra broke through the left flank in the 66th minute and cross a perfect for Wayne Rooney to stab home Goal No 2.
Chelsea by now know that they were beaten and it would take a miracle for them to get back into the game. With the back their back broken, Chelsea tried but could never threaten Edwin Van Der Saar in anyway. As Chelsea became more desperate, their tackles went wild with John Terry being booked in the 80th minutes and Julio Beletti in the 86th minute. Beletti’s foul provided the final platform for Cristiano Ronaldo for they could mark in in open play but in a deadball situation, Ronaldo is king. Ronaldo centered a precise freekick for Dimitar Berbatov to push the ball past Petr Cech for Goal No 3.
What a splendid win for the Red Devils. The final score Manchester United 3 Chelsea 0.
For Sir Alex and his boys, it is other 3 points and they have proven that Manchest United is a team. It is not about Cristiano Ronaldo. It is all about Manchester United.
But for Chelsea, it was their first away loss of the season. It was also the worst defeat, Chelsea has suffered since the 2005/2006 season. No one has beaten them for more two goals in the last three years. While Jan 11 may signal the awakening of the Champions’ march to the title, it could also be the day the superiority of Chelsea is finally erased forever.
Finding Chemperoh Falls
Jan 4 - Our task for the day to find Chemperoh Waterfalls which was described as a difficult falls hidden in Janda Baik. Our previous attempt two weeks ago was thwart by rain because we had to do a river crossing. We rendezvous at the Shell Station in Gombak at 7.00 a.m. and as usual there were stragglers. By 7.45 am, most of us have arrived but we still had to wait for a first timer who couldn’t find the place. Five cars proceeded to the Genting Sempah rest stop while one car continued waiting for the first timer. She finally arrived at 8.00 a.m. We then sped to Genting Sempah to join up with the rest only to be told that we have to wait for another car which was coming directly to meeting point. So there we were, 32 adults gathering outside the Macdonald’s waiting for one person. The boys started some street dancing to pass time while one innovative lass opened up the boot of the car and stretched herself horizontally for a rest. The rest of with nothing to do, starting taking her pictures and soon she was in the center spot.
Hurray at last the 33rd trekker arrived at 9.00 a.m. and we get to start.
We then found out that our leader, Joe left her GPS at home and we had to go in blindly. Well, that would make the trek even more exciting. I took the lead and led the convoy of 7 cars to the point where we abandoned our attempt two weeks ago. Joe expressed that we will use the farm route instead of crossing the river where one of the locals told us to. So Leo led the way and we started trekking up a very steep farm trail.
After about 500 meters continues climb, Leo told us to turn back. He felt that it was not the way and one lady who had trekked from Gunung Nuang to Janda Baik told us of another trek where she had passed a waterfalls. We decied to use her way. So it back to the cars. We had to drive to another part of Janda Baik.
After parking our cars in the second stop, we did a river crossing and reached a lush farm land. One of the trekker then decided not to continue and told everyone, he wants to go home. His four companions did not want to follow him so we will have to distribute his companions into the remaining vehicles for the return journey. Anyway, one abandonment ain’t gonna to spoil the journey. While the companions returned to the car to transfer their stuff to other vehicles, I took the opportunity to enjoy the beatiful farm scene. One group started trekking and left a trail of paper for the rest to follow.
I was really enjoying the fresh air and the scenery until I came to a fork. There was no paper trail. Harris, Sam and Diana was with me. Harris went ahead to check and returned to confirm there was no trail and advised to turn back.
We then turned back and finally found the paper trail in small fork which I had missed earlier. The trail is another climb through farm country. Soom we caught up with Joe who was the sweeper. She was surprised to see us as we were ahead of her. We trek about an hour through farms before we reached the edge of the jungle.
The trek through the jungle was pleasant as it provided us a more varied terrain and not to mention beautiful fauna and flora along the way like the beautiful wild ginger flower. We continued on the jungle trail for 45 minutes before we could hear the sound of rushing water. The last stretch was a steep down hill all the way to the river. Once we reached the river, we could see the waterfalls some 150 meters away. We waded through the river to reach the falls.
It was an exhilirating feeling as we have managed to reach our falls.
The most intersting characteristic of this falls is the giant red boulder at the bottom of the falls.
Well, it was another good workout for the day and another waterfalls conquered.
The New Year Is On The Way
(Our bottle of wine in our study)
Jan 3 – Slow start to the year but smooth and steady. We have not made any resolutions but climbing KK seemed to be one. Will probably planned for mid year. But I have decided to lose 10 kgs for the KK climb. Meanwhile, we climb a few mountains back in the Peninsular before we attempt KK. Will start will with Gunung Datok, Gunung Kutu and Gunung Angsi. Hopefully, we can move on to Gunung Nuang and Gunung Yong Yap by June before we attempt KK. Well, I am 100 kgs as per 1st January 2009 and I have to be 89 kgs or less by June 2009. Seems like a tall order since I have not been under 90 kgs for like a decade.
Anyway, was in office in the morning. Things under control. Had to trouble shoot a couple matters where staff misinterpret instructions. Had a visitor as well, marketing matters. Resolved that in a jiffy and I was ready to leave by 12.35 pm. Had to continue my drive back to KL and to add mileage towards my journey around the globe four times. Back home for porridge lunch as it was pouring like cats and dogs. Normally, I will pick Mei up at Putra to have lunch outside. Anyway, lunch at home was great especially it was the first carbo I have taken in 36 hours. Nap in the afternoon, FB a bit then I actually bugged Mei to go for a jog. All the time it has been her bugging me to jog but have not ran since Christmas. Just needed to sweat it out. Finally, we tore ourselves away from the desktop and Mac and did our run. I finally managed to jog up a steep 100 meters hill without stopping and continued non stop for 3 km. Felt that I had another 2 km in me but it was getting dark.
After our shower, we attempted to watch a movie at the Gardens Premier Cinemas. OMG. All the nine pm plus seats were taken. Sucks! Who was says there is a recession? We went to Mid Valley and the queue was until MacDonald’s Forget it.
We went for our dinner instead. Sushi King. For the first time, I did not take a single piece of sushi. God knows I love sushi. Too much carbo. Took a whole Sashimi Moriewashi by myself instead. As compensation, I took spider roll and a few strands of Mei’s Udon. Nuff for the day. Control….
Anyway, we wanted some German beer after our dinner and we looked for the Sports Bar at the ground floor. Found that it was closed. Walked around and could find any watering holes except for Chilies. I loved the Margarita at Chillies but the branch at Mid Valley looked too much like a restaurant for my liking.
We decide to go home and have a bottle of wine by ourselves. Here I am one bottle of wine gone. We moved on to beer because we dare not open another bottle as we have to wake up at 6 am for another trek, another day.
Jan 4 – here we come.
